Manzai
Manzai (
Manzai usually involves two performers (manzaishi)—a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man (boke)—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve around mutual misunderstandings, double-talk, puns and other verbal gags.
In recent times, manzai has often been associated with the Osaka region, and manzai comedians often speak in the Kansai dialect during their acts.
In 1933, Yoshimoto Kogyo, a large entertainment conglomerate based in Osaka, introduced Osaka-style manzai to Tokyo audiences and coined the term "
History
[edit]Originally based around a festival to welcome the New Year, manzai traces its origins back to the Heian period. The two manzai performers came with messages from the kami and this was worked into a standup routine, with one performer showing some sort of opposition to the word of the other. This pattern still exists in the roles of the boke and the tsukkomi.
Continuing into the Edo period, the style focused increasingly on the humor aspects of stand-up, and various regions of Japan developed their own unique styles of manzai, such as Owari manzai (
With the end of the Taishō period, Yoshimoto Kōgyō—which itself was founded at the beginning of the era, in 1912—introduced a new style of manzai lacking much of the celebration that had accompanied it in the past. This new style proved successful and spread all over Japan, including Tokyo. Riding on the waves of new communication technology, manzai quickly spread through the mediums of stage, radio, and eventually, television, and video games.[3][4][5][6][7]
Etymology
[edit]The kanji for manzai have been written in various ways throughout the ages. It was originally written as lit. "ten thousand years" or banzai, meaning something like "long life" (
Boke and tsukkomi
[edit]Similar in execution to the concepts of "funny man" and "straight man" in double act comedy (e.g. Abbott and Costello), these roles are a very important characteristic of manzai. Boke (ボケ) comes from the verb bokeru (
The tradition of tsukkomi and boke is often used in other Japanese comedy, although it may not be as obviously portrayed as it usually is in manzai.[citation needed]
Notable manzai acts
[edit]Winners of M-1 Grand Prix
[edit]Asahi Shimbun web survey 2012
[edit]The most funniest manzai duos, according to a web survey by The Asahi Shimbun in 2012 (excerpt):[9]
- Number 1: Yokoyama Yasushi and Nishikawa Kiyoshi
- 2: All Hanshin-Kyojin
- 3: Yumeji Itoshi and Kimi Koishi
- 4: Bakushō Mondai
- 5: Miyagawa Daisuke and Hanako
- 6: Two Beat [ja]: One of them, Takeshi Kitano became a Japanese film director and television host.
- 7: Nakagawake
- 8: Shishi Tenya and Seto Wanya
- 9: Downtown
- 10: Ima Ikuyo and Kuruyo
- 14: Taka and Toshi
- 16: Ninety-nine
- 22: Shinsuke Shimada and Ryusuke Matsumoto
- 26: Summers
- 28: Tunnels
- 29: Yokoyama Entatsu and Hanabishi Achako
-
Yokoyama Entatsu and Hanabishi Achako established the talk show-centered manzai style. They were active since 1919.
-
"All Hanshin-Kyojin", active since 1975.
Gen Takagi he brought manzai comedy to Finland
Literary associations
[edit]- Kikaku wrote with affectionate mockery a haiku on the manzai dancers: "The New Year Dancers / Never miss a single gate – / Millet for the crane".[11]
- Buson more positively wrote: "Yes, New Year's dancers – / Pounding good and properly, / The dirt in Kyoto".[12]
See also
[edit]- The Manzai Comics – manga series about a young manzai duo
- Double act
- Nininbaori
- Kyōgen
- Rakugo
- Owarai
- Xiangsheng – the Chinese analogue to manzai.
- Spark (
火花 ) – a 2015 novel about two manzai artists - Hibana (Spark) – a 2016 Netflix series adapted from the novel Spark
References
[edit]- ^ Blair, Gavin (2016). "What's Manzai?". Highlighting Japan June 2017. Public Relations Office of the Government of Japan. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ Kyodo, Jiji (17 July 2015). "Comedian Matayoshi's literary win offers hope for sagging publishing industry". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015.
- ^ Hiragana lesson through Japanese culture – manzai
- ^ Manzai (Double-act comedy)
- ^ Japanese yose theater – Japanese comedy shows Archived 3 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Corkill, Edan, "Yoshimoto Kogyo play reveals manzai's U.S. roots", Japan Times, 25 May 2012, p. 13
- ^ Ashcraft, Brian, "Ni no Kuni’s Funny Bone Has Quite the History", Kotaku, 5 October 2011
- ^ WWWJDIC Archived 3 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^
人生 で一番 笑 った漫才 コンビ [The funniest Manzai duos you have ever experienced throughout your life]. The Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese). Japan. 7 April 2012. p. b2. (Participants of survey: subscribers of Asahi Shinbun's web service, where 2,598 respondents voted. Method of survey: voters pick up to 5 from a list of around 100 most prominent pairs.)- Part of the table: 〈beランキング〉
人生 で一番 笑 った漫才 コンビ (in Japanese). The Asahi Shinbun. 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2024. (linked from朝日新聞 You刊 be 2012年 4月 7日 (土 ) at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-04-08))
- Part of the table: 〈beランキング〉
- ^ V
候補 本命 の和牛 が1票 届 かず…3年 連続 M1準 優勝 [Expected winner Wagyu lost by a single vote, runner-up for three consecutive years] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 2 December 2018. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2024. - ^ L Zolbrod, Haiku Painting (1982) p. 16
- ^ L Zolbrod, Haiku Painting (1982) p. 16
External links
[edit]- What is Manzai 2015 archive
- "Commodified Comedians and Mediatized Manzai: Osakan Comic Duos and Their Audience" by Xavier Benjamin Bensky. A study in the cultural effects of manzai.